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Emily Luchetti

If I could only have one dessert sauce this—without a doubt—would be it. Caramel sauce is the most complex tasting sauce I know and it goes with every flavor in the pastry kitchen: apples, nuts, berries, stone fruit, chocolate, coffee, and pineapple. It is a staple in my kitchen. I use it to dress up store-bought ice cream, serve it alongside cake, and layer it into parfaits. Frankly, no commercial caramel sauce compares to one that's homemade. There are a few good specialty ones out there, but they are expensive. Making it at home is inexpensive—sugar, water, and cream. That's it. It keeps for weeks in the fridge and can be reheated in the microwave or double boiler.
I know a lot of cooks who are afraid to make caramel. It can be tricky business for sure. Lest I scare you off, let me reassure you that if you follow these instructions carefully, you'll soon be making it all the time.
If your first try is a light tan and the sauce is thin even after it's cooled, next time cook the caramel a little bit further. On the other hand, if the caramel has a bitter aftertaste, next time cook it a little less.
A pastry chef trick to easily clean a pot you have just made caramel in is to fill it half full of water and bring it to a boil. The hot water will dissolve any hard caramel pieces that stick to the side. Another trick, on the off chance you do burn your caramel and you want to get rid of it, is to add a couple cups of water, carefully at first, just as when you add the cream, to dilute it. Let it cool some and then it can be poured down the sink.

Pudding cakes are little culinary marvels. Take what is basically a thin cake batter, fold in whipped egg whites, put the batter into a baking dish (or several ramekins as I do here), and voilà! As it bakes, the batter separates and forms a sponge cake on the top with a thick, kind of custardy pudding on the bottom. Lemon pudding cakes are common in the South, but I've swapped lemon for Key lime juice.
To coat the insides of the ramekins with sugar, grease them with nonstick cooking spray or butter, put 1 tablespoon sugar in one, and then tilt and turn it around, tapping to coat all the inside surfaces. Tap the excess sugar into the next ramekin and repeat the process until all are dusted, adding more sugar as needed.

This is a childhood favorite reinvented for grown-up tastes. You've got the texture of a Fudgsicle but with the flavor of rich dark chocolate, salty peanuts, and sweet caramel, all combined in a dessert pretty enough to make people think it came out of a professional kitchen.
It's important that the Fudgsicle bars soften at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving, otherwise they'll be too hard to cut into. The flavor comes forward when the dessert warms a little. Don't forgo the ice-water bath. You need to cool the custard quickly to keep it from overcooking.

_**Editor's note:** The recipe and introductory text below are from_ [A Passion for Ice Cream](http://www.ecookbooks.com/products.html?affiliateID=16283&item=04420) _by Emily Luchetti, Executive Pastry Chef at Farallon Restaurant in San Francisco._
The black cow, also known as a root beer float, is simply a catchy name for a classic treat. This purple and yellow cow builds on the original idea but uses pineapple juice and cassis-berry sherbet. The addition of shaved ice makes it very refreshing. It is as good as the original, but has a more vivid presentation and sophisticated taste.